The New 49ers can win with tricks, win boring, win any way they want to–that’s true swagger

-No surprise to anybody who read the Jim Harbaugh transcript–I am the “Master of the Obvious,” according to Harbaugh, for a question that was fairly essential to this column.

He said it teasingly (probably), as he teased Lowell C a little later on a different line of questioning, and that’s all fine by us two, I’m pretty sure.

It’s a back-and-forth and back-and-forths with an interesting subject are always OK for people who ask questions.

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For my part, I asked about an obvious point, but I did sorta want to hear it from Harbaugh:

Designing pass plays–and then pulling them off–for left tackle Joe Staley and nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga are precisely the sorts of things that get a sideline and locker room roaring at full intensity.

When you pull off two of those plays in a single game, and you win that game to go 6-1, that’s a sign of a team at full engine power, absolutely revving it up, and dying to push it two or three gears higher.

Right, Jim? Err, guess that was pretty obvious. I am the MOTO, and happy to be.

—–the column/

Joe Staley wanted to make sure every part of his spotlight play was regally recognized. Demanded it.

The route, the catch, the run and, of course, the big, hip-shaking ending by the big, hip-shaking left tackle.

“My shimmy dance, too!” Staley shouted after the game to linemate Adam Snyder, standing at the next locker.

“Yeah, the little dance,” Snyder said. “Classic.”

No doubt, Staley’s first-quarter, 17-yard catch and big first-down celebration was a classic piece of the 49ers’ easy 20-10 victory over Cleveland at Candlestick on Sunday.

So was nose tackle/fullback Isaac Sopoaga’s adept 18-yard catch a few quarters later, which came on third down but was markedly shimmy-free.

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It was all classic: The 49ers showed that they can beat a bad team any way they want to these days — with big guys, little guys, fast guys or fat guys.

They can do it by the book, as they did for most of Sunday with tight defense and Frank Gore’s slam-bang running.

Or they can do it by veering far from any method you would possibly expect, throwing it to the least likely suspects at the biggest moments.

That’s all part of why this game seemed like a graduation for the 49ers, now 6-1, on a five-game winning streak, and four games ahead of their closest NFC West pursuer.

This was an important and necessary step — from unexpected success to outright command and control.

The 49ers are the clear second-best team in the NFC right now (behind only Green Bay), and they played like that on Sunday.

“Not perfect, but beautiful,” coach Jim Harbaugh said of the victory. “I’ll take it.”

It’s not because the Browns were a tough challenge, which they weren’t; it’s because the 49ers did it so easily and breezily and so true to the happy spirit of the locker room.

First, they beat the Browns physically, knocking around Cleveland’s faltering offense and moving well enough when the 49ers were on offense to get a 17-3 halftime lead.

And when the 49ers were in the mood, they beat the Browns by fooling around a little bit.

“We threw to our starting left tackle; we threw to our starting nose tackle,” receiver Braylon Edwards said. “So, they keep things like that up, we could be that new interesting team of the year.”

The two completions netted a total of 35 yards, and were classic moments in what is turning into a classic 49ers season.

Harbaugh said he and offensive coordinator Greg Roman didn’t call the plays strictly to excite the troops, but he knows that it happened that way.

“It does do that — that does fire ‘em up,” Harbaugh said. “I think it’s a great thing to get everybody involved. … It was that kind of a team win.

“You look up and down the roster, guys making plays; coolheaded decisions throughout.”

Staley’s completion came on the 49ers’ second series of the game, when he reported as an eligible receiver in a jumbo package and was wide open flaring left.

Smith calmly fired a spiral to Staley — a tight end early in his college career — who snared the pass and powered down field to the Browns’ 31-yard line.

“I just wanted to make sure I caught it, and once I caught it, don’t fumble,” Staley said.

“I really wanted to hit somebody really hard, too. And then I really wanted to do a dance. So I was happy I was able to do everything.”

That play helped set up a field goal to put the 49ers up 10-0.

The Sopoaga catch was even bigger — it came on third-and-3 late in the fourth quarter, with the 49ers protecting a 17-10 lead and trying to run out the clock.

It takes some guts to call a play for a nose tackle in that situation, but we know the 49ers coaching staff doesn’t have a shortage in that category.

Sopoaga, lined up as an H-back, deftly grabbed the pass from Smith for an 18-yard gain down to the Browns’ 14-yard line.

That helped set up the short David Akers field goal that iced the game.

“Every day in practice, I always play catch — it’s a regular, normal happening for me, try to be like Joe Montana,” said Sopoaga, one of the team’s best all-around athletes. “Try to be like Jerry Rice.

“I was just waiting.”

Of course, the 49ers probably didn’t need the tricks on Sunday. They knew that, and the Browns knew that.

But the two plays were more evidence of the spirit of this team — winning is contagious, trick plays are fun.

This is how the big, bad teams act. They play however they want to play, and they win however they want to win.

And when the biggest guys make the catches, the whole thing is a party.

But handoffs are actually tricky. Trickier than catching dump passes for linemen who don’t get regular reps.

I can just imagine the groans from DLs or LBs who might have to wrap 300lb bulls regularly, semiregularly or even on an occasional basis.

It’s the kind of thing that can freeze defenders just a tick, i.e., long enough to expose a crack, seam or lane for RBs to exploit.

That Man

I like that you are “Master of the Obvious”.
Close games keep Fredrick P. Soft away.
Go niners

http://www.inewgames.com Dale in UK

First, I think Fredrick B. Soft is a more descriptive name. Second, I live in the UK and was watching the play by play line on Sports Illustrated. When I saw Staley’s name catching a pass, I was taken aback, and later, when I saw Sopoaga’s, I was astounded.

At the beginning of the season, I thought if the 9ers won 6 it would be a so-so season, rebuilding with a quarterback who couldn’t win on a regular basis. 7 wins I thought would marginally OK, 8 a success, and 9 complete success. Anything more than that, an unqualified success. After 7 games, they already have the minimum. I thought Harbaugh would be an improvement, but I was unprepared for what has happened. And happy!

Ron

Sorry about any mention of NBA here, but NBA prima donna’s this is why the NFL is so popular, it is possible for quick turnarounds. You want to make the NBA just like the MLB so you can selfishly rake in as much money as you can, while 2/3 of the teams have zero chance of winning a Championship.

Peter

They were nice trick plays. Too bad we used them on the Browns. I hope Harbaugh has more up his sleeve. Go 9ers.

Kevin

It is good that we used them on the Browns. Previously when we brought in the “heavy” package with lineman checking in as eligible, we’d only run the ball. But now, opposing defenses can’t just count on that. They have to defend the pass as well in those situations with the game-planning.

Harbaugh and Co are creating a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation for opposing defenses, and I love it.

niner

i like Coach Hard-balls style!

http://www.asetcs.com Steve

In the second half there was a lot of 3 and out, I thought instead of running on every first down, it would have made sense to pass….. maybe the coach new he could do whatever he wanted and was just seeing if the team was strong enough to beat the browns down, eventually.

socalwarrior

Harbaugh called those plays just to make sure he’s the most hated coach in the league. The first one, I can see, doing it the second time is just saying “I’m smarter than you”.

Then again, as long as you can back it up…..

ladale

Keep away Freddie. That last game against the Browns was in no way easy or swagged. The niners were lucky to come out fresh and with an edge to jump on top of Browns with explosive run plays. But when they began to commit 9 defenders to the box, the niners down field passing attack showed to be erratic at best. The so called trick plays were a necessary move. It was the only way to move the ball at the time without placing the q.b. in a position to have to fit the ball into windows. Thank goodness for the defense and the running game.

Rick

Harbaugh has the team unified, has them all watching each other’s back and their success if fueling them to pay more attention to details and strive to not let their teammates down. I’m glad Harbs is having the success he is and that the team is performing up to their talent level. When you can get creative on these types of plays, it only makes playing that much funner. You add wins to that and it ramps it up another level. Harbs has brought the gold back to the Niners!

49er-fan Chon Buri

Harbaugh played at Michigan and played for Chicago, so I think if you just embrace that he likes running the ball and we have some studs in Gore and Iaupoti and the TE’s, the ride into the playoffs ought to be more enjoyable for everyone. If you think about the D, it’s important to give those guys breathers since there’s not incredible depth and a rotation…the niners are going to run, run, run the ball. But apparently it’s all the little nuances of the scheme that loosen up everything that wasn’t there the past several years.
Maybe Alex Smith has a jacked up arm so he can’t throw the deep ball perfectly to Crabtree. But one of these days they might connect, hopefully in the playoffs, when it really matters.
I think the Montana led niners won ugly games with comeback wins more than the Young-led Niners did… Young’s niners won with big margins, but the niners won only 1 superbowl with that arsenal. So who knows? Maybe these Niners might surprise someone in the playoffs with a run first team.

latopia

“He said it teasingly (probably), as he teased Lowell C a little later on a different line of questioning, and that’s all fine by us two, I’m pretty sure.”

I’m missing something here. Tim’s column and some of the comments make it sound like the 49ers yukked it up for an easy win. But after Cleveland scored that touchdown in the second half, that game was up for grabs. The 49er defense is very very good, but the offense was sitting on it’s wallet, running into 8 man fronts, and going three and out. Compare this game to the Detroit game, when the 49ers found themselves way behind at halftime. They threw the playbook open, went for the throat, and surprised themselves with a great win. Coach Harbaugh liked going for the throat at Stanford, and I can appreciate playing it conservative as a new coach with very little time to install much of anything on offense. But I think playing it so tight yesterday gave a truly inferior team a chance to beat them. They needed to keep the offense balanced in the second half, do the things that gave them the lead in the first half. What the hell, they’re 6-1, I should shut up.

Dizzle™

@threeputt – correct me if I’m wrong, but the Niners led by 2 at halftime against Detroit. The large halftime deficit was against the Eagles.

KauaiRobert

Good win…but I’m still concerned that Alex didn’t make that throw to Crabtree down the sideline.
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That was an easy 6 points and those are the throws that top-teir QBs make.
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Alex seems to muff those throws.
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I remain optimistic about him–CAUTIOUSLY optomistic.
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-ALOHA-

Bullet4ACheapShot

“Compare this game to the Detroit game, when the 49ers found themselves way behind at halftime.”

I know it probably felt like they were way behind, but the Niners were actually ahead at halftime against the Lions after Akers booted that 55 yarder just before the half.

But I agree with all of the points you made. I, too, am a bit perplexed by the number of people who viewed this latest win an easy, walk-in-park. They went the conservative route a little too early for my taste. Harbaugh seems a bit difficult to read sometimes. On one hand, he tries to crush your soul by not taking his foot off the pedal (see: victory vs. Bucs & the infamous Cardinal/Trojans “what’s your deal” game) and other times, goes ultra conservative in the second half (see: loss to Cowboys, yesterday vs. Browns). A 2 posession lead at halftime just doesn’t seem large enough to me to justify going in to cruise control in the second half.

robert rowell

yeah, agreed. tim, beating the browns was by no means an easy game as you seem to want to postulate. they have one of the top run defenses in the league and play in the toughest division. unfortunately for cleveland they also have one of the worst offenses i’ve seen since nolan/singletary 9ers…

great win!

Species

Like with just about everything Harbaugh does, what is great about the Staley and Sopoaga plays is that he is doing those plays to counteract the defense’s assumption that they will run the ball every time on those power sets. Harbaugh is an excellent tactician, using formatios and tendancies against the opposition in any way he can. By planting those tackle-eligible plays out of those sets into the defense’s mind, if that means that ONE less man is blasting into the power side of the line, all the more opportunity to continue to pound the ball in those sets with every advantage and matchup available.

oldskoolballa

For those of you concerned about the 49ers struggles with the vertical passing game, keep in mind that because of injuries, both Crabtree and Edwards have been unable to practice and anyone who understands the game knows that without the repititions that practice provides, it is very difficult to really develop any precision and timing between the QB and the receivers.

All of this to say, now that Crabtree and Edwards are somewhat healthy, hopefully they can put in some extra time with Smith, I expect the vertical passing game to improve as the season progresses!

Yes, Smith is not in the class of Rodgers or Brady but he’s good enough given the 49ers toverall eam strengths to lead them far into the playoffs barring any major injuries and the development of a verticial passing game that I feel “reps” in practice will improve.

woodsidegil

KauaiRobert,

Something occured to me after reading your comment about Alex overthrowing Crabtree. Since his incompletions to Crabtree are usually overthrows and we don’t think Smith has a canon arm, is it possible that Crabtree might not have enough speed to catch those throws? Just wondering.

Slimman

The offense did stagnate in the 2nd half, but I only remember 3 or 4 plays that were ill-advised, had a bad throw, etc. Hats off to the Cleveland Browns for being a great defense. 49ers critics try to spout the “who have they beaten?” thing, but if you look back they have beaten some good teams. Great season so far.

pbasil9er

Seems to me that Alex makes a couple of great saves a game, ball over his head, or snapped before it should have been, he takes care of it. Thats what great QB’s do, take care of it and move on to the next play. And you never see Alex Bitch, Cry, point a Finger, and on the sidelines what you see is a big smile. This Kid came back to the Niners, said he had a job to finish, I know this is a team game and they all do it together win or lose.
I know he’s not this QB or that QB never will be, for that matter. All he can be is Alex Smith Forty Niners QB and that My friends is okay with me.
Too those of us that felt that all Alex needed was the tools, like all the other NFL QB’s need. Doesn’t it feel Great …. ?
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONINERS!

Michael O’Donnell

I disagree that they dominated the Browns physically. They won the first half then got their buts kicked the second half until it got close and they put it away. For most of the second half the Browns controlled both lines of scrimmage.

gw

Species, liked your post. It’s so nice, soooo nice, to actually feel the 49ers are out-thinking opposing coaches. The last decade of knowing that every coach in the league was about three steps ahead of our guy was beyond frustrating after Walsh spoiled us. Harbaugh really gets the Xs and Os; he also seems to be very good at in-game tactical adjustments. What a great feeling to have a coach who is a top ten percenter rather than the exact opposite. Nice.

HamsterBall

Our defense and running game are winning the games. In the playoffs, the passing game has to pickup. Niners are going to win the division. They should take this extended time to work on their passing game. Alex Smith is out of sync with his WR. He missed on a wide open pass to Crabtree and continually overthrew him. Crabtree is not fast. Maybe Al Davis was right to pass on him. Crabtree missing every preseason has not helped. We really miss Josh Morgan.

FeatherRiverDan

I love the way the niners are playing but waiting for a team to pressure Smith to really find out where the offense really is…..

pbasil9er

Seems to me Alex plays his best when under pressure!

pbasil9er

Also what I think some here may be missing, is that we are a run first offense, that our signature! Alex is making the throw when they are needed, and thats why coach calls Alex clutch, and who here wants to argue with coach. Myself I’ve given up trying to second guess these guys, they seem to know what the hell their doing. 6 – 1 says it all.
And I think as the season goes on ,,, there will be more surprise’s?
gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooniners

pbasil9er

for those who doubt … our guy Alex !
Yesterday on the NFL Network’s Total Access program Kurt Warner listed off his top 5 QBs. To the surprise of many people who haven’t been following the 49ers closely, Alex Smith made the list at #4. (You can view the video here.) Keep in mind this isn’t a list of the 5 best QBs in the league overall. This is a list of the 5 QBs who have played the best so far into the season.

This is what he had to say about Alex Smith:

“My big surprise, Alex Smith comes in at number four. A guy I probably didn’t expect to make this list all year long, but he’s got his team at 4-1 right now. He’s playing as consistent as anybody, and what I’ve seen the last couple of weeks is him making “the big play”, something that he hasn’t done up until this point in the season.”

it drops off really quick after #3….not many quality QB’s in the nfl this year..also under their last head coach they were a run first team….I need a lot more proof before i will ever be a smith fan…and he isn’t good at all with being pressured,he drops the ball,throws the ball where the receivers can’t make the play or throws it to the other team……only time will tell……